Review: Melville Releases Lyric Video For New Single ‘Pickup Artist’

With their debut album, The New Zero set to be released Aug. 18, music lovers should be expecting to hear about Melville. The Portland-based quartet classify their unique style as “visceral West Coast rock n’ roll,” which does seem fitting for their sound.

The band recently dropped a lyric video for the first single off their upcoming album, “Pickup Artist.” At a glance one would think this is a song dedicated to the art of being a player, but one listen and it becomes apparent that there’s far more depth to the track than that. In fact, the song actually calls out said “pickup artist,” bringing to light the personal issues that fuel the promiscuous behavior. It’s rare to find this stance in rock music these days, and the change is not an unwelcome one.

Stylistically “Pickup Artist” leads in with a solid beat that gets the heart pumping, which meshes well with the energetic, melodic guitar. Lead singer Ryan T Jacobs’s vocal control is impressive, to say the least, and the emotion he puts behind the lyrics is spine-tingling. This is a song that touches the soul and moves the feet and is an excellent combination.

The video itself meshes a vintage film aesthetic with montage style editing. The layering of videos and colorful filters used gives it an almost dreamy feel that works well with the tone of the song. It’s definitely more entertaining than the average lyric video, and does have quite a bit of re-watch value. The only notable downside is that the salmon hued words may be a little difficult to read at some points in the video due to the colors swirling in the background, but that barely impacts the sheer awesomeness of the experience.

Overall, the song is super catchy, and the video is a lot of fun. If this track is in any way indicative of their upcoming album, then Melville is definitely onto something.